"Unusual and thoughtful. . . . Takes the poet’s or the novelist’s
joy in turning a commonplace detail to the angle at which it
reveals its glint of meaning."—David Lattimore, New York Times Book
Review
"This is a superb book, one that answers many questions about the
Chinese, past and present."—Srully Blotnick, Forbes Magazine
"1587, A Year of No Significance, for all its scholarship, has the
surreal visionary quality of Kafka’s beautiful and frustrating
story 'The Great Wall of China.'"—John Updike, The New Yorker
"Huang uses 1587 as a convenient focus for his study of late Ming
developments through the lives of the Wan-li emperor, two of his
grand secretaries, a famous official, a leading general, and one of
the dynasty's most celebrated iconoclasts. Not all specialists may
agree with Huang's conclusion that by 1587 the limit for the Ming
dynasty had already been reached and the year stands as a
'chronicle of failure,' but there will be widespread agreement on
the book's impressive achievement in providing vivid biographical
and institutional detail within a highly readable text."—Library
Journal
"If you buy only one work on pre-modern Chinese history this year,
make it this one. . . . The author displays great sensitivity in
dealing with the tensions and contradictions in late Ming society,
and even when one disagrees with his interpretation of certain
facts or events, one cannot help but be impressed by the depth of
his knowledge and his enviable ability to bring the characters in
his story to life. In places, for example, his description of what
it was like to be the Wan-li emperor is nothing short of masterly.
. . . Will become required reading for anyone interested in this
period of Chinese history."—W. S. Atwell, History
"1587 is immensely rich historical fare that provides great insight
into the workings of the late Ming administration. . . . Huang's
sensitive and well-informed descriptions of administrative life
organized in a bold and readable way make [this] book more
significant that the year was. It is essential reading for an
understanding of late imperial China."—Tom Fisher, Journal of
Oriental Studies
Winner of the American Book Award for History Paperback in 1983
"No book of this kind in any language exists for the entire Chinese
history field. Its most remarkable quality is the skill with which
is conveys the texture of life, imparting to the reader a sense of
having been inside the environment of Chinese politics and of
seeing the complexities of another world as immediate and
intelligible matters."—Frederick W. Mote, Princeton University
"It is top-hole, full of information, and a first-rate
argumentation as to how China got the way it did. I know of none
better."—L. Carrington Goodrich, Columbia University
"Excellent both as history and as a piece of
literature."—Lien-sheng Yang, Harvard University
"Imaginative and resourceful. . . . Informed both by humanistic
concern and a broad knowledge of technology and economics."—Edward
L. Farmer, University of Minnesota
"Analytical and innovative. . . . It will galvanize our thinking
for many years to come."—Hoklam Cham, University of Washington
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